Smoking (and driving) is injurious

Doing so will soon be a traffic offence in the Capital. How’s that for a nanny state?

A Dalhi court has come up with a new order that bans smoking while driving. Smoking and driving is to be treated as an offence and is listed along with other ‘distracting’ practices such as using a cellphone when at the wheel. While some cities have banned smoking when there are underage children in the car, a blanket ban on smoking while driving is not in effect anywhere in the world, even in America, Japan and Europe, which have strict anti-smoking laws.

Perhaps this is because, even given that smoking is bad, any such ban cannot be passed without its violating individual freedom. A car is an enclosed space, it does not create conditions for passive smoking. And while quite a few countries ban using a cellphone while driving because it distracts the driver, nobody has thought of using the same logic when it comes to having a puff while driving: perhaps because, unlike a mobile phone, smoking can be accomplished, by and large, while keeping both hands on the wheel.

The argument that smoking is ‘distracting’ for the driver and therefore a traffic hazard is specious, to say the least. And it seems to have gone down well with Delhiites — people have generally lauded the ban when interviewed by the media, earnestly pointing out that “smokers free one hand to use their lighter to light up” and this makes them accident-prone if they are driving.

Story continues below this ad

But let’s follow this argument to its logical conclusion. By the same token, radios should be banned. If smokers free their hand for a split-second to grab a lighter, radio listeners often do the same to change stations. Too many radio channels are not good for you anyway, they confuse the mind. A confused mind is distracting.

Passenger seats should be banned. The presence of another person in the car is a potential traffic hazard. People talk. Talking is distracting. Similarly, carrying a bottle of mineral water in the car should be a jailable offence. The presence of the bottle may tempt the driver, driven to distraction by the Delhi heat, to uncap it on the road and take a swig. Why expose drivers to such temptation?

Nobody on the driver’s seat should be allowed to take their noses with them. If smokers free one hand from the wheel for a split-second that it takes to light up, ‘exploring’ one’s nose — a pastime pursued passionately by many of the Capital’s drivers — can take much longer. It is definitely distracting for the driver. It could also be distracting for other drivers on the road who crane their necks to observe such behaviour more closely. Therefore, noses should be banned from cars, forthwith.

Actually, thought is distracting. Who knows where your mind will go even if your hands are on the wheel? Therefore people planning to drive cars must be prepared to leave their minds behind… Now how’s that for a nanny state?